


Woman of Lestallum

by StarrBryte



Series: Woman of Lestallum [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy XV: Comrades
Genre: Bad ideas good execution, Canon Compliant, Canon Disabled Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Deformities, Disabled Character, F/F, F/M, Final Fantasy XV Comrades, Gladiolus being an asshat, Healthy Communication, Misunderstandings, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Apocalyptic Medicine, Promptfic, Sex in a tram, Slow Burn, Speech Disorders, Starscourge (Final Fantasy XV), Tumblr: FinalFantasyxv-ocs-unite, Unrequited Love, finalfantasyxv-ocs-unite, mental disability, tumblrfic, unhealthy communication, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27663949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarrBryte/pseuds/StarrBryte
Summary: When Insomnia fell Bahamut punished the surviving members of the Kingsglaive by taking the memory of that day from innocent and guilty alike. The only thing He left behind was the crushing feeling of guilt and failure. Glaive Adele Steiner was only spared that punishment because she can't remember anything. At all. Steiner was left broken and betrayed with a smashed in face and the few Comrades who still remember who she had been before. Steiner doesn't remember a time before the dark. She doesn't need to. The King will come back. And she will ensure that he still has a kingdom even if she has to pummel every single deamon herself.  (Tumblr Promptfics from Finalffantasyxv-ocs-unite)
Relationships: Cindy Aurum/Holly Teulle, Coctura Arlund/Dino Ghiranze, Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia, Jenica (Final Fantasy XV)/Original Character(s), OC/OC, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Series: Woman of Lestallum [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1214685





	1. Personnel Profile: Then

**Author's Note:**

> I ended up moving the chapters from the original Woman of Lestallum to a prequel fic called What Remained of the Day. This feels so much better and nicer. Like the game itself I'm going to keep on changing and updating until it either feels right or I give up.
> 
> These chapters are going to be the cleaned up and expanded versions of the promptfics I wrote for Finalfantasyxv-ocs-unite, which was one of the best Tumblr communities I had ever had the honor to be a part of.
> 
> Welcome to the Adventures of my OC, Kingsglaive Adele Steiner as she tries to navigate the World of Ruin and relearn how to live along the way.
> 
> First few chapters will be an introduction to the character and then a dive right into the promptfics.  
> I recommend reading What Remained of the Day before this but to sum up: Steiner took a Warhammer to the side of her face which not only gave her amnesia, it permanently disfigured her. Her jaw healed improperly affecting both her speech and what she can eat. Her face is jacked to the point of scaring normal people. The amnesia took her ability to function like a normal adult and she had to relearn everything from the ground up. In the World of Ruin this proves difficult and her mental faculties can be unreliable. However, with a support network of friends and teammates Steiner will do her best to ensure the safety of the people of Lestallum and the surviving outposts.

Updated File for: Steiner, Adele Beatrice

Personnel File ID #0015-11262016 MHG

Name: Steiner, Adele Beatrice

Nickname: Steiner, ‘Dele

Age: 22

Height: 7’2

Weight: 255 lbs.

Hair Color: Red

Eye Color: Hazel

Birthdate: 2/27/727

Birthplace: Lestallum, Cleigne

Bloodtype: A+

Donor Type: Organ Donor/Blood Donor

Orientation: Demibisexual

Sexually Active: Yes

Level of Education: Junior High (Note: Dropped out at 14 for health issues involving bone and joint growth, home schooled until 16, graduated appropriate EXINERIS Industries classes in Engineering, graduated Insomnia Tech with a major in communication and a minor in advanced engineering while in Kingsglaive training, completed Crownsguard training level 3 specializing in Military Sign)

Astral: Titan (Acolyte at Cauthess Temple)

Occupation: Kingsglaive

Previous Experience: Auxiliary member of Maledacio Hunter’s Guild, Engineer/Mechanic EXINERIS Industries, Cauthess Mines Excavator

Combat Positions: Tank/Heavy, Support (Note: When not running missions has been part of Prince Notctis’ personal guard by request of King Regis)

Weapon(s): Great Shield, Warhammer, Greatsword, Battle Axe, Crossbow (Note: Trained in Greatweapons under Kingshield Clarus and Shield Gladiolus)

Squad: Titan-Ifrit-Shiva

Patrol Partner: Ursus Majorum 

Date Filed: 5/15/749


	2. Personnel File: Now

Updated File for: Steiner, Adele Beatrice

Personnel File ID #0015-11262016 MHG

Name: Steiner, Adele Beatrice

Nickname: Steiner, ‘Dele

Age: 30

Height: 7’2

Weight: 187 lbs.

Hair Color: Red

Eye Color: Pink/Lavender/Light Grey

Birthdate: 2/27/727

Birthplace: Lestallum, Cleigne

Bloodtype: A+

Donor Type: N/A

Orientation: N/A

Sexually Active: No

Level of Education: Lower Elementary. Has basic concept of letters and numbers but is unable to read or write. Remains competently fluent in Advanced Military Sign and Basic Lucian Sign. 

Astral: Titan 

Occupation: Kingsglaive

Allegiance: Loyalist

Previous Experience: Auxiliary member of Maledacio Hunter’s Guild, Engineer/Mechanic EXINERIS Industries, Cauthess Mines Excavator (Note: Most retained knowledge of former education seems to be instinctive and automatic. Deemed unreliable unless cleared by Marshal Leonis or Captain Ostium)

Royal Sigil: The Oracle

Combat Positions: Healer (Sigil Advantage: Healing Light AOE), Tank/Heavy, Support 

Weapon(s): Halberd, Great Shield, Warhammer, Greatsword, Battle Axe, Crossbow (Note: Most retained knowledge seems to be from muscle memory. Deemed reliable unless reported otherwise by team leaders.)

Weapon Spec: Modded (Cid)

Date Filed: 7/29/757


	3. A Sum Up of Steiner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the Prompts from ffxv-ocs-unite was to give our character a backstory. So here is the cleaned up version. I'll be giving more detail as I continue to update What Remained of the Day, but for now here's this.

Glaive Steiner: A Summary

The only thing Steiner really remembers about the Crown City Incident is the sound of a dog’s nails on pavement, a familiar voice calling her name, freezing cold and pain.

Her first memory after that is made up of bits and pieces. Scalding heat of hands and blankets and drugs. Kind voices. Calm words.

Her first real memory is the sound of someone weeping. That someone was very important she was so sure of it. However the voice of her Doctor took precedent and all she needed to concern herself with was healing.

She was told that she had been found draped over an Ice Draw Point in a secret passageway off the subway near the Citadel. From the doctors’ best guess she had taken either a mace or a morning star to the side of her head, crushing nearly every bone in her face, cracking her skull in several places and bursting six vertebrae in her neck. They told her she was lucky she wasn’t paralysed or left in a vegetative state.

She spent the intervening months up until the beginning of the Endless Night relearning how to walk and talk and function like a normal human. Steiner only knows her name and age because of a set of Hunter’s Tags she had been wearing when she was discovered and even then no one was really sure if that was her real identity until Libertus came to get her.

Steiner never relearned how to read or write. Usually she’ll have Talcott, Iris, Monica or Jenica read reports to her. She picks missions based on the pictures next to them or matching key words to a list she keeps with her at all times. Sometimes people mistake it for reading but it’s honestly just symbol matching. Some would argue that is reading but if she sees the same words outside of a report she has no recognition or idea of what she’s looking at unless someone reminds her. The same thing goes for math and numbers. She can make estimations and plot trajectories but can’t precisely turn that into words without getting confused. It all makes much more sense in her head.

Most of her fighting skills come from muscle memory and she makes sure to practice on the Practuar before each mission to make sure everything feels right in her hands. Her biggest fear is forgetting how to fight, especially if others are depending on her. Sometimes she gets anxious about doing everyday tasks correctly and she’ll oftentimes have a friend or a team mate check that her boots are laced and her belts and gauntlets are strapped correctly.

While the cold from the Draw Point prevented swelling and they were able to repair the worst of the breakage with a few carefully hoarded Potions, Elixirs and intense emergency surgery, her jaw and nose required a delicacy of repair that just didn’t exist anymore and with the majority of the surviving population of Insomnia in need of healing and care, so long as Steiner was alive, her surface injuries were left for later and her jaw wired shut to try and heal on its own while she relearned how to live.

Her jaw was rebroken and healed improperly during her escape from the hospital after it was taken over by the Empire and her face now has the permanent appearance of being off puttingly off center. Eating has become a bit of a challenge and her drinking straw is her most prized possession that she will happily maim people over.

Because of her mouth she can’t speak very well so she communicates mostly in Military Sign, botched and modded Sign Language and a series of pre-practiced words and phrases she takes pride in saying without slurring. She usually only speaks out loud to people she trusts.

While she may never get her full memory back she will sometimes get flashes of recollection or intense feelings of deja vu. There are people who remember who she is. Kingsglaive, Crownsguard, the Amicitia siblings, people she went to school with, Maledacio HQ, EXINERIS.

She learns through those people that, after dropping out of school, she used to work with her father in the Hunter’s Guild until she was old enough to work alongside her mother at the power plant. It was during one of her shifts at the Cauthess Mine that her magic manifested and she was sent to the Crown City for training.

Her father was killed early on as the nights grew darker but her mother is still alive and continues to work at the plant along with many of Steiner’s childhood friends. But since she has no memory of them she tries to avoid them as often as she can. She knows that her mother knows that she’s alive because Iris was called away to the ward that housed the Plant workers and when she came back it was with a duffle bag full of clothes that fit her almost perfectly, a few well loved possessions and pictures. Maledacio keeps her father’s things in a locker for her and she has inherited what little he had. They don’t try and get her to remember squat, which she appreciates. They tell stories of the people they’ve lost and sometimes her father is brought up, but with no more emphasis than the others. She likes knowing where she came from without the pressure of trying to remember.

While the other Glaives obsess over the memories that were taken and what sort of crimes they are being punished for, Steiner believes in her heart that she was loyal. She was loyal to King Regis and she will be loyal to King Noctis until her dying day. While her amnesia is the most severe it was also more merciful in the memories it took and instead of being blamed on Astral Wrath she is considered just another victim of that day.

While she had escaped Bahamut’s punishment she still accepts the guilt for being unable to protect her Regis or serve Noctis in any sort of helpful capacity besides running missions which she throws herself into headfirst. It’s usually Vyv who tells her when to take a break, take a rest and bathe. It’s helpful that he’s got photographic evidence to shove into her face to show how filthy and tired she looks. She likes the photos where she looks like a badass, especially from the side or from behind, but it’s the pictures of her team, laughing and eating together around the fire at camp that she likes most of all.

She nurses a bit of a crush on Jeanne and Cindy because who DOESN’T have a bit of a crush on Jeanne and Cindy? While she’s unable to hide it Cindy continues to be kind to her and Jeanne is usually too busy to notice anything. Steiner is trying to get up the courage to talk to Prompto about it because being part of a fan club might make her feel less lonely about it.

Steiner is determined to see the sun again and her dream is to greet the King when he returns. She practices in the mirror everyday so that when Noctis returns (and he WILL return) she can smile at him and say, loud and clear, “Welcome home your Majesty.”


	4. Summer Salad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FFXV-ocs-unite Cindy Event: Ask Cindy Anything. This was the first prompt I ever responded to. I took that little back and forth and expanded on it so here it is~! Finally an actual bit of fic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added a pic of Steiner at the beginning of last chapter so feel free to take a look! I'll probably try to add pics here and there as I go.
> 
> Bold font: Military Sign  
> Italic font: Lucian Sign Language

It took months but, before anyone could figure out a permanent solution, it became dark enough that the plant life began to go dormant, if not outright die. The grasslands of the Slough grew limp and wilted and soon the scent of water and flowers became putrescent and marshy, the waters green and lifeless as the fish either died or mutated.

Fishing was dangerous and soon it became all about gaining enough meat from the healthier Garula and Anak to last until… Until.

Luckily Marshal Leonis and Captain Ostium had managed to convince the people that mattered that this wasn’t just a temporary thing and so whatever could be harvested had been harvested. Harvested, preserved and put away.

Steiner knew, in a roundabout sort of way, that she had eaten fresh vegetables in the past. That Adele had lived for fresh veggies. Gladiolus had tried to joke about it but that had fallen flat and he had grunted an excuse and walked away. Iris called him a rude name and they went back to inventorying the West Storehouse. Steiner didn’t count reminders of things she couldn’t recall and forgot all about it. Gladiolus wasn’t the type to apologize and she didn’t want to bother with forgiveness of insults that never happened.

No matter how curious Steiner sometimes got about her former life there were certain things about her past she would never regain an interest in. Even thinly sliced or cut she just couldn’t manage to chew fresh vegetables well enough to actually eat them. It was the EXINERIS Diet or nothing.

Despite her lack of interest in what little produce they had she could see how it was affecting the people around her. Fresh greens and the like had nutrients in them that kept brains and bodies balanced and without them mental and physical health, especially in the children, began to fail. There was only so much the EXINERIS Diet could do.

So Steiner went further afield and searched for hidden stores and raided abandoned homesteads for supplies. Each success was a victory. Just coming back with her skin intact was a victory.

When a mission came up to get survivors out of a homestead near the Saxham property Steiner went out of her way to actually try and loot the place. Unluckily the family guardhounds had sickened from the Scourge and turned into demons. Luckily, while trying not to get her ankles bitten off, Steiner ran into an out building, the floor gave way, and she ended up in a root cellar. It took her three hours of taking pot-shots at the demon dogs outside but eventually it was safe enough to try climbing out. Filling one burlap sack with canned vegetables and another already full sack of she didn’t care what, Steiner made her way back to the rendezvous already wincing at the lecture she would be getting about wandering off on her own.

Instead the two sacks were greeted with delighted dismay, Luca scrambling for the radio to ask for another team to escort the new refugees back to town while they prepared to get as much out of Saxham before the demons took over completely.

Unsurprisingly their quest was denied and they headed back to Lestallum with their human cargo, passing a fleet of trucks on their way to secure the ranch instead.

A hero’s welcome awaited them in town as the two sacks were taken and looked through with enthusiasm. Jeanne actually put down her headset long enough to smile at Steiner and congratulate her on a job well done.

She later learned that the one bag she had grabbed had contained nothing but an assortment of seeds stored for planting, which was deemed less than useless and set aside for disposal. Disappointing but you couldn’t win them all.

Steiner’s face hurt from smiling, however, and she had to avoid the normal populace lest she scare them but she spent the next two days floating above the clouds and darkness. Her elation didn’t keep her from noticing how distracted Cindy seemed. She had been just as happy to see those carefully packed jars as anyone but had vanished into the depths of her workshop not long after. The bag of seeds disappeared as well but Steiner just assumed someone had thrown them away. You couldn’t eat what you couldn’t grow.

The Saxham team returned with welcomed supplies and zero casualties. While she helped unload boxes from the trucks she noticed familiar looking seed sacks being taken in the direction of Cindy’s workshop.

It wasn’t difficult to claim rights to bringing Cindy her share of the evening meal. Prompto was out on a mission with the Inner Circle and Iris was sulking near her shop stand, once again denied permission to leave the city.

“Kn’ck kn’ck.” Steiner called, smacking the side of the open doorway carefully. The recycled metal echoed loudly, “Spetchal delivery!” she was just about to enter into the sacred domain when the entry light flickered on and Cindy came through the basement door, closing it carefully.

“Sorry for th’ wait Steiner! I was just tryin’ to get the- well never you mind that.” the Mechanic cut herself off with a nervous chuckle.

Steiner cocked her head to the side and made a confused noise as she handed the tray over.

“Don’t you worry your pretty head over that none!” Cindy replied, patting Steiner’s arm. Tingles crawled up her arm and she tried not to shiver. Or smile too big. Or react. Then she realized that the touch had been a distraction because Cindy was already backing through the door to the rest of her workshop.

“Thanks fer th’ food! Don’t worry about the tray I’ll take care-ah that! Good night!” She called and then the door was closed and no one was going to try and force that on pain of a sawed off shotgun and Cid’s modified polearm.

The mysterious behavior continued for well over a week. Cindy would come out and talk to farmers taking refuge in the city, visit the make-shift stable they made for Princess, and send out missives to Maldacio.

At one point the lights in her sector of the city flickered alarmingly and the electricians stormed out in droves to fix the problem only to find a very singed looking Cindy waving her hands and smiling in embarrassment.

“Sorry! Sorry! I was messin’ with some connection on mah generator an’ a fuse blew! It’s fine y’all! Go on back now I got it handled!”

Since no one could withstand her charm the council begged Cid to talk to his granddaughter about experimenting with the power without supervision, permission or guidance. He laughed in the poor messenger’s face and went back to modding the broken katana Steiner had found in the swamps.

“You think I can control that girl once she gets an idea in her damn fool head? Might as well have the Marshal give the Astrals a firm talking to.” He chuckled, flipping a switch on his machine. The strings of lights hanging overhead flickered and Steiner winced sympathetically at the poor messenger who was going to have to make his report to the council who would then bitch to Cor.

“Honestly I think Cor would have better luck.” The messenger muttered as he turned away.

Cindy finally emerged from her workshop looking mysteriously satisfied. She never breathed a word on what she was working on and only mentioned something about generators and lights and scavenging for car parts. Steiner’s next few missions involved bringing back as many intact vehicles as she could. Cindy made more trips out with her tow truck which meant a team of Glaives to escort her and attempt to keep her and her precious truck in one piece.

No one liked escort missions but no one liked disappointing Cindy either.

Once a vehicle was brought back to city limits it was evaluated and either repaired or stripped of everything and anything useful. Mostly for the barriers.

Cindy took off with a truly worrying amount of headlights and wiring and the sector she called home braced for more power outages. Luckily the flickering was kept to a minimum.

More time passed. Cindy was kept busy with her usual work and her mystery project. She had somehow convinced Cor to let her stay near the city. Which, weirdly enough, meant more escort missions because all of her clients now had to come to her instead of the other way around.

Finally, one day almost three months later, Cindy came out of her lair, making a b-line straight for Steiner. Her face was beaming with victory and, to Steiner’s eyes at least, everything seemed brighter.

“Here you go!” Cindy said, holding out a large mason jar.

Steiner stared down at the jar filled to bursting with the most perfect salad she had ever seen. The vegetables at that perfect peak of ripeness. She had never seen lettuce so leafy and beautiful. She lifted her gaze to the World of Ruin around her, with it's dry packed dirt and dying, sun-starved vegetation, then back to the jar which seemed to sparkle with color by comparison. Slowly she lifted her eyes to the cheerfully grinning mechanic and pointed at the beautiful salad.

"HOW?!"

Cindy laughed as she placed the jar gently into Steiner’s hands.

“Ah, c’mon Steiner, don’tchya know I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve? Actually, I’ve been meanin’ ta show you ‘n Iris. Y’all might be able ta help me out. I’ve set up some of them old time tubs, filled ‘em with dirt, and growin’ a little garden underneath the light of old headlights. Scraps and- uh- other things are good for compost. Keeps the soil nutrient rich and well conditioned. Maybe you and Iris can help me build some more?” She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, “I wasn’t even sure it was gonna work at first t’be honest. It’s why I kept it secret for so long. I think Pawpaw and Cor were the only ones who knew… With everybody sorta wilting away on all that mush, not that the mush is bad mind you but… Ah, I’m babblin’ aren’t I?”

Steiner was speechless. This was what Cindy had been working on for all those months? Of course. Plants took so much time to grow and what was to say that the first harvest had been successful. This was more than successful. This was envy worthy. And she couldn’t eat it. Any of it.

Iris was exclaiming over the jar, Elmyra was mumbling about fresh ingredients for her potions. Monica was wiping tears away from relief. It was the very first, truly good news anyone had been given in so long. Had it truly been almost a full year since the sun went away?

“Steiner?” Cindy had a hand on her arm. Cindy was standing almost on tip-toe to peer into her face, her ugly, deformed face, with a look of concern, “Steiner darlin’ what’s wrong? Why’re you crying sweetheart?”

Oh. That was why her eyes felt like they were burning and her face felt wet.

“D’nno.” She rasped, “D’nno. Hap’y. Happy f’r you.”

Happy yes. But also sad. Envious, maybe? Wishing things different. Wishing herself different. Emotions were hard for normal people to communicate. For Steiner it was impossible. Despite the rough leather of her gloves, Cindy’s hands were warm and Iris’ hands were comfortingly cool and just those two things alone made it easier to bear.

“ **Mission accepted**.” Steiner signed, once she realized her words had vanished, “ **Assist** _Cindy_. **Acquire supplies**. **Request granted**.”

The past was gone, but a future where Cindy smiled, where there were vegetables growing in the light of modified headlamps and maybe, one day, King Noctis would tell her that she had done well; that was a future Steiner was actually looking forward to seeing.


	5. A Tastier Salad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steiner goes Behemoth hunting and finds more than her team bargained for, much to her delight, Nelly's disgust and Luca's confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sequel to 'Summer Salad'. Part of this taken from my own experiences with gardening and the secret to growing giant plants.

The old Chocobo Post was a sad, dilapidated wreck of what it had once been. The chocobos themselves either dead or scattered and their keepers along with them. Despite nearly a year passing since it had been attacked the place still smelled wonderfully like birds. That and it’s proximity to the Nebulawood was probably what kept on drawing Behemoths to it. But if there was one thing Steiner felt she was confident in, it was fighting Behemoths. Even the scary Kings with their wings and ability to summon blizzards. The meat from a Behemoth carcass could carry a small outpost for a month if properly stretched. But that wasn’t why Steiner took the job.

While her current team got down to butchering the massive body as quickly as they could before other more vicious beasts were drawn to the smell, Steiner pulled out an old potato sack and made her way towards the stable.

She had a memory, not long after talking to Cindy about lettuce and tubs and head-lights and fertilizer and how one could grow such leafy greens in such a hellish world. It was of a mum plant, easily five feet high with hundreds of sunshine colored blooms on it. She must have been very small at the time. She remembered a voice asking with as much awe and confusion as she had asked Cindy about her lettuce, how the mum plant could be so large. She remembered a man holding a small sack of something foul smelling and telling her what to do with it in a cheerful voice. The answer was so irritatingly simple and she had spent the entire ride to camp mouthing the words to herself so she could get it right if asked. And she would be asked.

Ten minutes later she exited the stable with her sack balanced on her shoulder and covered in grime, stinking like chocobo. She wondered for a moment if she should ambush Argentum before bathing when she got back to town. Get some of that happy stink on him. He looked enough like a chocobo he should at least get a chance to smell like one.

“Hey Steiner! There you are!” Yura called from the path, “We’re heading back to camp!” Steiner waved back and quickened her pace.

"Find anything good?" Yura asked, peering at the sack curiously. Steiner nodded enthusiastically and put the sack down proudly.

“Oh gross!” Nelly exclaimed, clamping a hand over her nose as if she didn’t smell like dead behemoth and blood, “Why are you bringing that back to camp? You better not be bringing that back to camp. Are you bringing that back to camp?”

“Yes. Am. Yes.” Steiner answered, “Fo' Cin'y.” She supplied when her answer didn’t seem like enough.

“Why though?” Luca asked as they piled onto the back of their truck, Nelly claiming shotgun, “I thought you liked Cindy?” Steiner signed a smile, trying to control her expression to keep from hurting herself.

“'Oo like Cin'y.” She replied as the pulled back onto the road.

“Then why?!”

Steiner could picture it in her head. It was so hard sometimes to keep a thought, so hard to concentrate on the world around her when she wasn’t fighting. Everything seemed to just leak out of the cracks in her head and she would be frozen until someone could lead her by the hand to her next goal. But this one was easy. Scrap wood and metal and dirt lovingly rejuvenated, leafy greens and five-foot mums and rosy tomatoes gleaming under the lights.

Her face ached when she grinned, not minding that it showed the painful crooked angle of her jaw.

“Poop makes a tasty salad!”


	6. Bloodlines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short piece on Adele Steiner's family tree, focusing mostly on her connection to the Lucis Caelum's and her famous great-grandmother Beatrix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt was to talk a bit about the OC's family. So I have.

Adele Steiner was born the only daughter of Beatrice (Cairom) Steiner and Aernesto Steiner, also known as Bert and Ernie by their friends.

The Cairom’s are very very VERY distantly related to the Caelum line through Ardyn, but since it’s been 2000+ years since that bit of infidelity Adele has as much claim to the throne as Noct’s black chocobo chick. While most redheads are considered Children of Ifrit the Cairom’s can trace their family trees back to that distant and long lost Caelum ancestor.

While redheads are common in Adele’s family they also had a tendency of skipping generations. It’s said that any Cairom born with red hair will have a great destiny in service to the Crown.

The last Cairom with red hair was Adele’s great-grandmother Beatrix Cairom the Blood Briar of Lucis who fought in two great battles until Noct’s great-grandfather, had a deep and unshakeable love for Noct’s grandfather King Mors and died in battle before Regis could ascend the throne.

Cor was mentored for a short time by Beatrix and while he has never made the connection between Adele and the Blood Briar there is something he finds terribly familiar about that red hair and those climbing rose tattoos.

As a trainee Nyx would see the plaques giving accolades to The Lady of Blood Painted Roses and her accomplishments and think to himself that this was the person he most wanted to be. Someone who gave no craps but took no shits and did what needed to be done to protect her friends and the Crown. He did put together Adele’s connection to Beatrix but instead of inspiring awe it only inspired frustration as Adele nearly died protecting her squad.

King Regis knew about the Cairoms and while he tried not to show favorites he trusted in the family’s steadfast loyalty and unshakable courage. So when Adele became a Glaive he may not have spoken to her very often but he would accept gifts from her and been more inclined to grant requests. He even made her part of Noct’s personal guard until she was able to finish her studies. After Noct moved out of the Citadel she was sent on more and more missions beyond the wall and the two rarely saw each other after that.

Adele is named after her paternal great-grandfather Adelbert Steiner who was part of Maledacio for a very, very long time. At the end of his life he went just a bit mad and local legend claims he tried to fight a trolly pylon thinking it was a Catoblepas.

Adele is the last of both the Cairom and Steiner lines and with it unlikely that she will ever have children the Caelum line will truly end with Noct and Adele.


	7. The Playlist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Make a playlist for your OC! What songs do you associate with your character?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna add a link to the youtube playlist I made for this challenge. The real challenge of the prompt was that technically I had two characters instead of one. Pre-fall and post-fall, Adele and Steiner. It was a fun and kind of heartbreaking journey and really helped me get into my character's motives and feelings. 
> 
> The playlist has expanded since the prompt but these were the ones that went in so it's the ones that I'm posting. I hope you get to enjoy the music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ph6yj9rEVs&list=PLe4sZUzl5vF3NxTBYIzJ6gHLFsKj5s7OH&index=1

ADELE:

  1. Bodak Yellow by Cardi B  

  2. The Greatest by Sia  

  3. Glitter and Gold by Barns Courtney  

  4. Girls, Girls, Girls by Motley Crue  

  5. Share (I Had Dreams) by Naked Woods  

  6. Meet Me On The Battlefield by SVRCINA  

  7. Stand By You by Rachel Platton  

  8. Iron by Woodkid  

  9. Ain’t No Devil by Andrea Wasse  

  10. Eyes On Me by Angela Aki  

  11. Bottom of the River by Delta Rae  

  12. Coal Miner’s Song by Nico Vega  

  13. ROSES by The Chainsmokers  

  14. Written In The Stars by The Girl and the Dreamcatcher  

  15. Take On Me by Hidden Citizens  

  16. Alfadhirhaiti by Heilung  

  17. Haze by Echos  

  18. Elemental by Lindsey Sterling  

  19. Loud by Matt Nathanson
  20. The Humbling River by Puscifer
  21. Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap



STEINER:

  1. Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap (slowed down 800%)
  2. Don’t Fear The Reaper by The Spiritual Machines  

  3. River of Dreams by Billy Joel  

  4. Haunted by Echos  

  5. Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel  

  6. Higher by The Naked and Famous  

  7. Under Pressure by Queen  

  8. Who Wants To Live Forever by Queen  

  9. Human by Rag'N'Bone Man  

  10. Meet Me In The Woods by Lord Huron  

  11. Blood On My Name by The Brothers Bright  

  12. The Light by Disturbed  

  13. Krigsgaldr by Heilung  

  14. Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken by P!nk  

  15. Choosing Hope by Nobuo Uematsu  

  16. Roses Of May By Nobuo Uematsu  

  17. All The King’s Horses by Karmina  

  18. Lucky by Aurora  

  19. The Eyes of a Child by Aurora  

  20. Leave The Streets Empty For Me by Fever Ray
  21. The House of Stone and Light by Martin Page




	8. Hobbies: Part One: Adele

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from ffxv-ocs-unite: So tell us! What are your OC's hobbies?
> 
> Part one: Adele before the Fall.

It wasn’t like she meant to take on so many missions at once. She just had a lot of free time, what with school being finished and the Prince being guarded pretty much all the time by Scientia when he wasn’t in school himself. She put in her availability and let the chips fall where they may. 

Ten missions and an Imperial Dropship almost landing on her head later and maybe...

Maybe… Maybe that wasn’t the smartest decision she could have made…

“Well it’s definitely not the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard but you might be right in thinking so.” The nurse on duty replied, checking that her IVs were still in place, “Your Captain just sent word. You’ve been put on Medical Leave for the next two weeks. Someone will be by with a Potion once you’re stable.”

Adele tried to be frustrated about that but mostly she just felt tired.

“I think you broke the record for most successful missions in a row before collapse.” Nyx said, placing a vase of flowers on the table next to her. By the way the light came through the window she must have slept a few hours between that one thought at now. Neat. Time travel.

“Less time travel and more ‘been in a coma’ you idiot.” It was night now and there was Ursus, chair creaking ominously under his own size. She could sympathize. You’d think there would be more chairs made to hold the weight of girthy shits like them. 

“You do know that whatever they’ve got you on makes you a mouthy bastard right?” Gladiolus chuckled, dumping a cup of water into her vase. It was at that moment that she realized the vase had the Royal Crest on it. That was nice of His Majesty to send flowers, but there was something weird about the flower choice and arrangement… 

“Hi ‘Dele!” Iris called, waving to her from the foot of the bed and interrupting her thought. The littlest Amicitia wasn’t that much taller than the last time she had seen her so not much time had passed. Probably.

“It’s been three days.” Gladio grunted, pulling up a chair, “And the fact that you’re still maintaining eye contact with me must mean that you’re lucid enough to hold a conversation at least. How do you feel?”

She wanted to answer that she felt like disembodied shit, but she also didn’t want to use foul language in front of Iris… But by the way Iris was giggling she must have also said that part out loud… Damn, no wonder everybody had turned into mind readers, mouthy bastard indeed.

“What’s the passcode to the Crown apartments?” Gladio asked casually.

Why did he want to know that? He should already know them and if he didn’t know them then he didn’t have the clearance to know them. Simple as that. Wait. Did that mean she outranked him now?

“What’s Noct’s phone number?” Iris asked as Gladio turned away to control his sudden coughing fit.

Didn’t Iris already have it? Also if Noct had changed his phone number then she should really go to Scientia with that question since he was the one in charge of things like that.

“What’s King Regis’ weakness?”

Well that one was easy. The King had no weaknesses. Only fondnessessesss.

“Alright, you passed. Congratulations, the drugs don’t make you a mouthy bastard. Just a wordy one.” Gladiolus grinned at her and she tried to grin back but she also got the feeling she was drooling onto her pillow.

“Great.” She replied, and each syllable felt like it was coming from far away, “What do I win?”

“A lower dosage.” Lazarus grunted from the far corner of the room. The siblings were gone and it was night again and a nurse was fussing with her IVs. 

“Oh. That’s nice… Thank the King for me?” She asked, “Also tell him that until my bones stop vibrating I don’t think I’m going to be very good at my job.”

“You’re on Medical Leave for another ten days.” The Captain’s right hand said bluntly. Now, see, that was why she liked Luche so much. He was blunt and to the point. Clear and concise, just the way she liked her orders.... And from the way he was smirking at his phone she had just said that part out loud. Again.

Wait, was he recording..?

“What’s the King’s cell phone number?” Luche asked.

“123-479-Eat My Ass.” She replied dutifully.

“Hmm. Drug’s wearing off already. Good work Glaive. You’ll be cleared for a Potion tomorrow.” Luche said, heading for the door, “Enjoy your vacation. Get a hobby. Your shifts are getting cut.”

Inside of an hour the pain had set in. Turns out an Imperial Dropship HAD landed on her. Or at least the gangplank had but that wasn’t as funny. The memories were fuzzy but she was pretty sure they had won. Pretty sure.

That’s when she finally took in the bouquet that was still sitting on her bedside table. Definitely from the King considering the royal seal on the little greeting card. All that was written in it was a list of the flowers the vase contained, which was both cryptic, vaguely patronizing and unhelpful. There was also a get well soon card from the Prince which was nice.

She read the King’s card again, then looked at the flowers. They were pretty, but seemed a little hodgepodge for something the Royal House would send. But then again there was that one rumor...

“A hobby.” She muttered, reaching into the drawer of the side table to fish out her, thankfully undamaged, phone.

When Gladio and Iris came by later that afternoon it was to see her lucid, awake and scribbling in a notepad someone had given her. The Shield outright laughed when he saw what was written on it.

“Finally noticed the King’s message, huh?” He chuckled, checking the water level in the vase and sprinkling some more plant food into it from the packet taped to it. 

“What does it say ‘Dele?” Iris asked, climbing up onto the foot of the bed, “Gladdy said it was a surprise.”

Adele turned her head to glare at the vase full of Amaryllis, Begonias, Yellow Carnations, Cherry Blossoms, Rhododendron, one White Tulip and a single Thistle flower.

“Pride goeth before a fall.” She grumbled.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once she was out of the Med Ward and safely back to her apartment, vase in tow, she sat down with her phone and began penning out a response. As far as hobbies went it wasn’t bad, but maybe a bit too pricey. She winced at the total. Maybe for special occasions? She had to do it just this once as a courtesy. To show she understood and appreciated it. 

She knew what the King was doing and why.

It was no secret great-granny Bea and King Mors had been a bit of a thing back in the day. The lady had only been about ten years older than him by the time they met and it had also been no secret that Mors had sent her love letters disguised as bouquets. He had also sent her secret orders and information disguised as bouquets but at that point no one really believed things were just platonic between them. 

Regis had idolized the Blood Briar and had been publicly grief stricken upon her death. Mors had given her a hero’s funeral. Heck her plaque hung above the Glaive training ground entrance.

Adele was never sure how Regis’ mother, the Queen, had felt about the whole thing or whether the affair had ever been physical or just a case of Chivalric Love Never To Be. Beatrix had never married and had one baby during a year long hiatus after Mors had married. Which would have caused a scandal and a half if the timing hadn’t been wrong and the alibis hadn’t been airtight.

The fact that Regis was using Mor’s flower code to send her letters said that not only did he remember her family, he was also aware that they had been one royal discretion away from being related. Heck, she was still waiting for a bored tabloid to do some digging. She already got enough crap by being the tallest person in Insomnia and a redhead.

The Crown gave the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive room and board and uniforms but the pay was still rather shitty. The royal coffers weren’t exactly up to snuff since the Wall went up and the rest of the Kingdom had to rely on fewer and fewer returns on their taxes. Adele couldn’t afford a constant correspondence, but every once in a while couldn’t hurt. And she had Gladiolus to play messenger boy on her behalf. The normal palace guards were less anal than the city guard but they were almost as prejudiced. Which just pain sucked when she was trying to do her job.

She wondered if the Amicitias knew about the previous King and his Blood Spattered Rose. Probably, considering how close the Shield had to remain to the throne. But it had been a few generations and that family weren’t really ones to share secrets. Ah well, if Gladiolus asked she would answer, it wasn’t as if it were some terrible family secret. Most redheads had a few of those anyway and anyone from Ghalad was currently the hot topic for grief. More was the pity.

“Dark times gettin’ darker, find a lark to guide me, desert stars don’t seem so bright, something something something shadows in the night…” Adele hummed darkly to herself.

It wasn’t hard to get Gladiolus to deliver her message, but it was weirdly embarrassing trying to explain why she was sending the King flowers and why he had to see them personally. Apparently the King received flowers every once in a while from people trying to get into his good graces and they were way fancier than her little bouquet of Agrimony, Almond blossoms, Blackthorn, Bluebells, Azalea and a single Gladiolus. The bouquet was wild and a bit messy but she hoped it conveyed her message clearly.

The single branch of blackthorn she received in return was like all of her birthdays combined up to that moment and she didn’t even care that Gladiolus teased her about it for the next week.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Adele had always been kept active so of course it wasn’t long before she went looking for a hobby she could actually afford. She was still on medical leave so it wasn’t like she could go out looking for one. 

“I could be a handywoman as a hobby.” She mused out loud, head and shoulders wedged beneath her downstairs neighbors’ sink. 

“Don’t you need an actual license and shit to be a handyman or whatever?” The other Glaive said, leaning against the wall. Adele could feel the woman’s eyes boring into her ass and she wiggled it for good measure as she finally got the leaking pipes to stop dribbling.

“Well what the hell do I call this anyway?” Adele grunted, pulling herself out of the cabinet, “I’ve been doing this since before I knew how to walk.”

“‘A woman of Lestallum knows every brick of her city before she even knows her name’.” The Glaive quoted, eyes stuck somewhere below Adele’s collarbone, “What do I owe you?”

Adele grinned and slid her index finger underneath her neighbor’s chin, letting her feel the size of that finger as she tilted her head up to meet her eyes.

“How about I go take a shower, change into something not this, and you join me for lunch?” She asked. The dark haired lady chuckled, her head dipping lightning fast to nip at her finger as she wrapped both hands around Adele’s wrist, dragging her hand down to her chest.

“How about we skip the metaphors and innuendos, I join you in the shower and we order the nastiest ribs in town that has the absolute best sauce that I will then proceed to eat off your torso?”

And that was how Adele met Crowe. And also how Adele had to fix her own shower because they broke it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Being a handywoman as a hobby was a bust. Or at least she was calling it a bust because after that night Nyx and Libertus sent her a serial killer style death-threat by special courier about how Crowe was like their little sister and that made them obligated to murder anyone who slept with her and keep their dick as a trophy. The message she sent back, also by special courier, was a glossy, high-quality print of her specially tailored strap-on.

That was how the three of them got banned from the Crown Courier services.

Collecting anything was out on account of space, money and time and Adele had lived bare bones most of her life to not really place much importance on things she wouldn’t be able to fit in a carry-on (the signed poster of her favorite pop-star was an exception. That thing was coming with her to the grave.)

There was always dating, but it seemed insulting to call that a hobby. Adele liked good food, good drink and good company and wasn’t really picky about where she got it. Sometimes it was schmoozing a cute girl and going out somewhere fun, sometimes it was buying a lady a drink and sharing good conversation and maybe getting lipstick on her face, sometimes it was laying on someone’s living room floor and watching bad television with beer and take-out. Those weren’t hobbies, that was just a change of scenery for a little while. A smallcation. A break.

“What about beer brewing?” Ursus asked as she counted the number of fancy ass selections in the fancy ass micro-pub her partner had dragged her to. She wasn’t drinking on account of the meds the Royal Physician had her on until she was healed enough for a second Potion. And even if she was cleared to drink she wouldn’t come near this piss with a ten-foot pole. She was pretty sure Ursus was there to stress test the dinky bar stools and to watch her factory trained tastes get insulted.

“You know what? You might be on to something there…” She muttered, picking at the absolute manual that was the menu.

By the time Adele had managed to get what she needed to start brewing she was off medical leave. But with reduced missions she had the time to do some tinkering. 

The tubs and tubes she needed for the fermenting process weren’t that expensive but she had to do most of it in one of the spaces under the stairs, and borrow storage closets in the basement and half the building wanted a taste. 

Crowe started rumor that she was making Moonshine, which brought the building Supervisor in to see her which led to Adele having to talk to the City Guard and the Crownsguard AND Luche who raised one bored eyebrow and asked her why she was wasting his time. The first batch wasn’t terrible and no one in her building was going to turn down free beer. It took a few more months before she had a batch she was willing to show off. 

Insomnia was a mostly capitalist society, which was difficult to get used to when the rest of Lucis was so reliant on each other and it took more than one argument to convince people that she wasn’t going to sell what she was making. It was just a hobby. 

It was also the laziest, most perfect gift for birthdays. 

She sent off a perfected batch to Lestallum for her parents and old friends in the factory and guild to try. Her mother actually took the time to go through all the red tape (not that it was hard considering her name) to tell her that it was shit and to send more. By that point she had earned her way back onto a more intensive roster and didn’t have as much time to dedicate to her hobby as she wanted. 

She really, really wanted to send a bottle to the King. It was the best and worst idea she had ever had and that included the time she and Nyx had jumped a transport van off an incline and into an Imperial Dropship.

It took her a few weeks but she made something that she considered good enough to serve Royalty for the King’s birthday. She made a six pack, handmade a carry box for it to go in, made a sampler for the Royal guard to test and a bottle for the Kingshield to try if it made it that far. She was careful, went through the proper channels, and sent her creation off to the Citadel. 

Turns out Lestallum tastes were a little bit stronger than Insomnia’s. She got a lovely little personal thank-you note from King Regis that explained that the sampler she had sent to the guards had made them piss-drunk and the Kingshield had decided that was a bit too strong for Royal stomachs. The gift had been sent to the Contraband room and would probably get consumed by Crownsguard Trainees. It would be a good lesson for them. 

The note concluded with a rather sweet message that, rather than gifts, HRM would much rather have all of his Glaives return home from their missions safe and sound. 

Adele replicated the recipe and sent everyone in the Glaive a bottle, conveying Regis’ message. At least a third of the Glaive sent back a message toasting the sentiment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regis' Note: Amaryllis: Pride, Begonia: Beware, A Fanciful Nature, Yellow Carnation: Rejection, Disdain, Disappointment, Cherry Blossom: A Good Education, Rhododendron: Warning, Beware, White Tulip: Forgiveness, Remembrance, Worthiness, Sincerity, Thistle: Nobility, Endurance, Warning
> 
> Adele's Note: Gladiolus: You pierce my heart, Agrimony: Thankfulness, Gratitude, Almond: Promise, Blackthorn: Fate, Protection, Hope against adversity, Good fortune, Bluebells: Loyalty, Constancy, Humility and Gratitude, Azalea: Take care, Temperance, Fragile, Gratitude, Passion.


End file.
